In San Francisco, a U.S. district judge instructed the Trump administration to furnish probationary workers, who were dismissed en masse, with a written declaration clarifying that their termination was not due to their performance, but rather as part of a government-wide elimination effort.
Judge William Alsup is presiding over a legal case initiated by labor unions and non-profit organizations challenging the extensive firings of numerous probationary employees in February during the tenure of Republican President Donald Trump.
In a subsequent ruling in March, Judge Alsup mandated that six federal agencies reinstate the probationary workers as the Office of Personnel Management had overseen the terminations, despite lacking the authority to dismiss employees from agencies other than its own.
The U.S. Supreme Court last week blocked Alsup’s order requiring the administration to return those terminated employees to work, but did not decide whether the firings were unlawful.
Alsup was particularly upset that the firings of probationary workers — many young and early in their careers — followed an OPM template stating that the person had been fired for poor performance.
“Termination under the false pretense of performance is an injury that will persist for the working life of each civil servant,” wrote Alsup in Friday’s order. “The stain created by OPM’s pretense will follow each employee through their careers and will limit their professional opportunities.”
The administration has defined performance to account for job indispensability as Trump seeks to drastically reduce the federal workforce.
Lawyers for the administration also say that OPM did not order the firings, but Alsup found it was impossible for federal agencies to assess each worker’s performance in only a matter of days.
In Friday’s order, Alsup said the fired workers must receive the written statements by May 8. If a worker was fired after an individualized evaluation of that employee’s performance or fitness, the agency must submit by May 8 “a declaration, under oath and seal, stating so and providing the individual reasoning underpinning that termination.”
A federal judge in Maryland overseeing a similar complaint brought by 19 states found the administration did not follow laws set out for large-scale layoffs, including 60 days’ advance notice.
A preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge James Bredar ordering reinstatement of the workers was overturned last week by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
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